This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C xc2xa7119 from an application entitled Method And Apparatus For Detecting And Repairing An Error Of A Device earlier filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on Jul. 23, 1999, and there duly assigned Serial No. 99-30046 by that Office.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for detecting a malfunction of a horizontal/vertical processor used in an image display device and correcting the detected malfunction of the horizontal/vertical processor.
2. Background of the Invention
In general, a horizontal/vertical processor for deflecting an electron beam in an image display device is normally operated with an electric power supply over 8 volts. Accordingly, if the electric power supply becomes unstable due to an electrostatic voltage or a surge voltage, the horizontal/vertical processor may be reset for register values to be converted to default states.
Therefore, normal signals from the horizontal/vertical processor are not output properly and damage to a product may occur.
In order to solve the above problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for detecting a malfunction of a horizontal/vertical processor used in an image display device and correcting the detected malfunction.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for detecting a malfunction of a horizontal/vertical processor used in an image display device and correcting the detected malfunction.
In order to achieve the above objects, a method for detecting and correcting a malfunction of a horizontal/vertical processor comprises steps of (i) initializing the processor; (ii) determining whether the processor is activated; (iii) setting an error, check state for a malfunction check of the processor if the processor is activated; (iv) checking whether the processor has malfunctioned; (v) returning to step (iii) if the processor is normally activated; and (vi), returning to step (i) if the processor has malfunctioned.
In order to achieve the above objects, an apparatus for detecting and correcting a malfunction of a horizontal/vertical processor operated in response to a clock signal and a data signal from an external host, and for outputting a vertical blanking signal in response to a vertical synchronization signal from the external host;a signal generation part inputting an electric power, and for outputting the electric power as a vertical blanking signal for an error detection in response to the vertical blanking signal; and a microcomputer for checking whether the vertical blanking signal for an error detection is generated based on a predetermined first check reference time period, comparing the vertical blanking signal for an error detection with a predetermined reference level, variably counting the vertical blanking signal for an error detection during the second check reference time period based on a result of the comparison, and initializing the horizontal/vertical processor or checking whether the vertical blanking signal for an error detection is generated based on whether the counted value of the vertical blanking signal for an error detection is larger than a predetermined reference counting value.
According to the present invention, the microcomputer frequently compares a vertical blanking signal generated from a device with a vertical blanking signal generated when the device is normally operated according to a predetermined time, to thereby detect whether the device has malfunctioned. Accordingly, a malfunctioning horizontal/vertical processor can be rapidly converted to a normal operation state, and damage to a product occurring due to the malfunction is prevented in advance.